The Toronto Maple Leafs first game is Wednesday October 3rd, vs Montreal.
So just under two months between now and opening night. Just under six weeks until training camp.
The NHL schedule was released a while back, but there has been so much Leafs related talk I don’t even think we got a chance to talk about, so I figured I’d put this post together featuring some of the highlights.
As mentioned, the first game is against the Canadians. It is one of four games on opening night, and I’m extremely happy the Leafs are on the schedule. I hate when there is hockey but you have to wait a couple of days for your team to start.
Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule
Besides the Leafs first game, I also learned that the NHL will be playing regular season games in Europe (stupid and greedy, in my opinion) and that the there are over 1200 games on the schedule. Also, it’s the Ducks and Panthers 25th anniversary. Damn! (NHL.com).
That’s pretty crazy. I still think of them as expansion teams, and I remember when they came into they league that was back in my big hockey card collecting days.
The Leafs opening schedule is actually pretty sweet. And by sweet, I mean easy. They start off against the Habs (Weber is injured) then play the Sens (one of the worst teams in hockey) and the Blackhawks (also awful).
If it wasn’t for Carey Price, I’d say the Leafs are opening against the three worst teams in the NHL. As Price is a factor, I’m going to say that the Canucks will join the Senators and Blackhawks as the NHL’s worst teams.
The Leafs then play the Stars, Wings, and Capitals to begin the season with one of the easiest runs of teams imaginable.
The Leafs finally get a tough run later that month when they play the Kings, Penguins and Blues and Jets (twice) all in a row.
Of course, the first game I looked for was against the Islanders, because it will be a big deal when Tavares faces his former team. The Leafs play the Islanders on the 29th of December, but the real crazy game will be on February 28th when the Leafs visit the Barclay Centre (or whatever random arena the Islanders will be hosting that game in) to visit the Islanders.
I expect that 20 thousand New Yorkers will enthusiastically greet Tavares with a polite and friendly cheer!
The Toronto Maple Leafs will finish their regular season on April 6th, the same way they started it: against the Montreal Canadiens, who, I hope are good this year. It’s so much more fun when the Leafs and Canadiens are both good.
Thanks for reading! All schedule info from NHL.com